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00:00Wonders to come. Look who's back.
00:04We're live at a brand new location.
00:08It's wild.
00:08It's watery.
00:09And it's full of wildlife.
00:11It's time for the one and only Spring Watch.
00:16Deep in the heart of Northern Ireland is a patchwork of locks,
00:23woodlands and ancient monuments.
00:30Where nature hides and thrives.
00:36And that's what we are here for.
00:41We're going to reveal all of its natural treasures.
00:49Our cameras are rigged and ready.
00:57We'll be heading into the unknown and taking them routes less travelled.
01:07We'll be following every twist and turn of the season.
01:15From the first stirrings to spring in full swing.
01:25We also meet the people finding joy in a natural world.
01:30Moth.
01:31Moth.
01:32It's mothmania.
01:35Oh no way.
01:37Barn swallows.
01:40And doing their best to protect it.
01:43We're tree planting and we're letting natural regeneration take place.
01:46I have a picture in my head.
01:47I can see it as clear as day.
01:48So I know it's going to happen someday, you know.
01:50The perfect age to ring.
01:52The very alert.
01:53Eyes wide open.
01:56All around us, nature's next screen stars are waiting to be discovered.
02:06So join us.
02:11As the season's stories unfold.
02:30As the season's stories unfold.
02:42Hello and welcome to Spring Watch 2026.
02:45Coming to you live from the National Trust Crumb Estate here in Northern Ireland.
02:50I'm very excited to say this is the first time we've had our main base here in Northern Ireland.
02:55And it's going to be a fantastic show.
02:57We've got three weeks to give you the very best of British wildlife.
03:00I've been up to all our antics out there setting up the cameras.
03:03But today, it's been a great start, hasn't it?
03:06Well, I tell you what, it's a fabulous place.
03:09There's fabulous wildlife.
03:10And who would have thought Northern Ireland, the start of Spring Watch, fabulous weather.
03:16I think this is the first time that I've started a Spring Watch season in a T-shirt.
03:21In a T-shirt.
03:21I'm going to do my little celebratory dance.
03:24Celebratory dance.
03:25Celebratory dance to start the show.
03:27I must say, though, it's in some parts of the country, it's been boiling.
03:31It's been a scorcher.
03:33I mean, I love this sort of weather.
03:35Northern Ireland, it's been a perfect Spring Day.
03:37Kew Gardens, hottest day recorded in May.
03:4334.8.
03:44It broke the records.
03:45And that's pretty much what we've seen throughout this Spring.
03:48It's been an early Spring and it's been a very hot Spring.
03:51And that's going to continue throughout the week.
03:53And, of course, we will be monitoring the effect of all of this hot weather on the wildlife.
03:57But tonight, we've got a great show to start with.
03:59We've got frog spawn, Jim.
04:01But not as you know it.
04:02No, this is very special, frog spawn.
04:05We're going to dive deep into the microscopic level.
04:08Oh, just look at them gyrating in their gel.
04:12Those little tadpoles.
04:13I love gyrating in gel myself.
04:15What a thought.
04:16What a thought.
04:17What a thought.
04:17Have a listen to this.
04:19This is pretty special.
04:21What could that be?
04:23That's an acoustic representation of the pressure changes in a woodpecker's body when it's drumming.
04:28Oh, yes.
04:30Oh, yes.
04:31That's what we do on Spring Watch.
04:33We take things that you think you know well and we tell you something that you didn't know.
04:38That's going to be good, isn't it?
04:39It's going to be a great series.
04:41Of course, Yolo's with us this series as well.
04:43Not here in Northern Ireland.
04:45He's roaming the UK, bringing us the best of British wildlife.
04:48And today, quite frankly, he looks like he's in the Serengeti.
04:57Ah, Michele, yes, yes, it does look like the Serengeti.
05:00It feels like the Serengeti.
05:02And I'm late.
05:03I'm late.
05:04I'm late.
05:05I'm on the way.
05:06I'm on the way.
05:07Don't worry.
05:07Don't worry.
05:08I'm just on the way back now from a NEP rewilding safari.
05:13Fantastic.
05:13It's a wonderful experience.
05:15Right, OK.
05:15Stop, stop, stop.
05:17I need to get out.
05:17I have a programme.
05:18Here we are.
05:19Oh, honestly.
05:21Thank you very much.
05:22That was absolutely brilliant.
05:24Right.
05:24I'm at NEP.
05:25I'm at NEP this week and for the whole of this week.
05:29And what a place this is.
05:32NEP is rewilding central.
05:34It's been driven by nature, creating all kinds of habitats, which has attracted hundreds, if not thousands, of different species.
05:43Then for the second week, well, a real contrast.
05:46We head to the heart of the city of London looking at urban wildlife.
05:50And I can promise you a few surprises.
05:52Then we migrate north to the Yorkshire coast to the RSPB's Benton Cliffs Reserve, where we'll be witnessing a majestic
06:02seabird bonanza.
06:04So, those are the three weeks we've got coming up for you.
06:07I am so excited.
06:08And Chris, Michaela, I tell you this.
06:10If this weather continues, my shorts are going to be getting shorter and shorter and shorter.
06:17I promise you.
06:19Do you know, for some reason, I'm suddenly hoping for rain.
06:22Indeed.
06:22I've seen him in a mankini.
06:24He made me pay for it.
06:26What a thought.
06:27What a thought.
06:27Let's go over to our map and show exactly where we are.
06:30Now, we got the ferry from Hollyhead, and we actually went over to Dublin, and we crossed the border, and
06:36we went into Cromer State.
06:38I mean, it looks like it's taken over the whole of Northern Ireland, doesn't it?
06:42But it's actually in the south of Northern Ireland in County Fermanagh.
06:45Let's have a look at the map of the estate.
06:48First thing you notice is there's a huge amount of waterways with this mosaic of islands, and that's what dominates
06:55Cromer Estate.
06:56It's a fantastic place.
06:58It's in the upper Loch Urn, as I say, mainly dominated by waterways, but surprisingly, there's a huge variety of
07:06habitats, and that's what we're going to be exploring.
07:08This is us, look.
07:09There's our little teepee, which is over there.
07:10We don't require that at the moment because we don't need any shelter.
07:13And there's the turret, and you can just see the turret over there in the middle of that lake to
07:18give you some context.
07:20But as Michaela was saying, there is a great range of habitats here, and that, of course, will lead to
07:25a great range of life for us to explore.
07:28Those lakes, these are naturally eutrophic lakes, which means they're really rich and full of plant life, fringed by the
07:38ancient woodland and all of those marshes, fens and bogs that you've got there.
07:43But the water's providing an enormous resource in terms of invertebrates, things like these damselflies, and, of course, the dragonflies.
07:51They, in turn, will be feasted upon by birds.
07:54Here you can see plenty of fish in those lakes.
07:57There's a common tern that's found a little bit of lunch there.
08:02Fantastic stuff.
08:03In terms of predators, we found a buzzard already, so we're going to be bringing you up to date with
08:08the antics in that nest.
08:09But we're going to keep our eyes peeled for the white-tailed eagles that have been successfully reintroduced into this
08:16part of the world.
08:17But as you can see here, masses of insect life.
08:22Plenty of flower-rich meadows that I saw when I was moving in, again, adding to all of this habitat.
08:28Great-crested greaves, we're hoping to find a nest that we can put our cameras on and bring you those
08:33splendid birds as well.
08:36Here are those meadows, speckled with all sorts of colours, full of nectar at the moment, which means there's masses
08:42of insects.
08:44Plenty of grazing there for Irish hares, some deer that we've already spotted.
08:50And, of course, in the woods, a couple of things that we're going to keep our eyes out for.
08:53Spotted flycatcher, of course, but also one of the nation's favourites, red squirrels, which are here.
09:00And then, of course, at night, one of my favourite animals, the pine marten.
09:05I have to tell you, I had pine marten poo in the palm of my hand today, so they are
09:10very definitely here.
09:12I can tell you, some of them are still here, as I can smell it still.
09:18That's really charming, that's charming.
09:19And that's the cast of characters that we're hoping to get.
09:22I mean, pine marten, that would be amazing.
09:24That would be amazing.
09:24Wouldn't it?
09:25Yeah.
09:25It's a fantastic place, as I say, with loads of wildlife.
09:28But, of course, we're not just interested in what we're seeing here, we're interested in what you're seeing in your
09:33spring, wherever you are.
09:35Now, one of the things I love on Springwatch is when people send us pictures of quirky nests.
09:39And this one is a classic quirky nest.
09:43Look at that.
09:44That is a blue tit in a nest of a guitar.
09:48And this is Kirstie Porter's brother's guitar.
09:51She lives in Surrey.
09:52And they're literally blue tits nesting in the F-hole.
09:56Tits in your F-hole.
09:58I mean, you wouldn't want to be playing...
10:00That's quite something.
10:01No one's going to be playing Stairway to Heaven on that guitar in the next few days.
10:05But, when it comes to performing, what about this?
10:08Sue Smith sent us this wren.
10:10Have a listen.
10:14It's the little bird with the big voice, isn't it?
10:1790 decibels.
10:17It's the largest, you know, loudest in terms of its body size that we have in the UK.
10:22And it produces a song that can be heard 500 metres away.
10:27Ten times more powerful than the rooster crowing in the farm down the road that's keeping you awake all night.
10:33What a bird, the wren.
10:34It's amazing.
10:35Keep sending them and we love to see them.
10:37So, send them in to the website, also our social media channels.
10:40And I can feel them, Chris.
10:42I can feel them already.
10:44I'm getting bitten.
10:46I'm getting bitten.
10:46Enjoy the T-shirt.
10:47It's going to get worse throughout the evening.
10:50Honestly.
10:51What does spring mean to you, Chris?
10:54Exuberance.
10:55All of that flush of verdant green colour.
10:57Beech trees coming out.
10:58Bird song, of course.
11:00Rich bird song.
11:01Do you know what it means to me?
11:02It means the start of Spring Watch.
11:04But what does it mean to you?
11:12My favourite thing about spring is the song of the birds that have been wintering somewhere warmer.
11:19Spring has become my favourite season of the year as it really is transitional and full of hope.
11:29My favourite part about spring is that there's so much change in new life.
11:33The warmer weather really encourages me to put my phone away and to get outside into the natural world and
11:39explore all of the wonders that spring has to offer.
11:46Screaming swift, swallows and house martens from the house and behind me, a bank of sand martens.
12:02My favourite thing about spring is getting up really early, heading out into the wild to listen to the dawn
12:10chorus.
12:11Spring's symphony of songbirds.
12:15One of the main reasons why I love spring is the extra daylight hours.
12:19And if you're lucky and have to leave some notes upon there, you never know our lovely neighbours, Chris and
12:24Steve, may visit from the woods behind us.
12:29Spring to me is wildflowers appearing everywhere.
12:33There is something so joyful after a long winter.
12:36Of just seeing these bursts of colour, it gets me really excited to get out and enjoy nature in the
12:42spring.
12:47So this is just absolutely the best time of the year to be watching barrods because it's barrod nesting season,
12:52which means you can see them doing their elaborate courtship displays.
12:55You can see them building their nests.
12:57You can see them bringing insects and other food back to their chicks.
13:01Just life again, which is so nice.
13:06My favourite thing about spring has got to be the spring babies.
13:10I love it when you stumble across the nest and monitor it, but then one day when you turn up,
13:14you're greeted by lots of fledglings.
13:20And my absolute favourite thing about spring is watching all the insects emerge from their hiding places after such a
13:26long winter.
13:29The one thing that really brings a smile on my face is watching the whole story unfold.
13:37My whole garden turns into a complete nursery, just full of fledglings, and it really brings me joy.
13:45It makes me smile every time I look out my window.
13:52Joy.
13:53Joy.
13:54Joy.
13:54Joy.
13:54That sums it up for me, I think.
13:55The joy of all of that life flourishing in one short, sharp spring is absolutely fantastic.
14:01And boy, do we need joy in our life right now.
14:03We need some joy.
14:03Here's some joy.
14:04We've been rigging the place with our cameras, and we can take a look at those that we've already got
14:08powered up here.
14:09So there are nine of those.
14:12Let's leap straight in with our young robins.
14:16There they are, still gaping a little bit.
14:19I can tell you that throughout the course of the day, they at one point were hanging over the side
14:23of the nest with their mouths open, trying to lose as much heat as possible.
14:27Thankfully, they are cooling down now and all looking very healthy, having had plenty of food.
14:32A lot of our nests have been struggling in the heat.
14:34Let's go back to all of our nests on that board.
14:37Let's go to the swallow nest.
14:39I love this nest.
14:42Let's have a close look at the swallow nest.
14:43There we go.
14:44There it is live.
14:45And we've got lots of little chicks in that beautiful nest made of mud.
14:50Oh, my goodness.
14:51Look at those, though, Chris.
14:52They are hanging out of that nest.
14:54They are also very hot, sitting in that lovely mud cup.
14:58We've been watching them, though, and this is what happens.
15:00The one thing that amazes me with these birds is how quickly they grow.
15:04This was yesterday afternoon.
15:06And take a look at those chicks.
15:08There are six chicks in there.
15:10They're a week old.
15:12Some of them have still got their eyes closed.
15:14This was yesterday.
15:16Both parents are coming in and feeding them.
15:19And you can see they're just about opening their mouths and sticking their heads out of that cup.
15:25One is a lot stronger than the other in that particular shot that you can see there.
15:30And then this was today.
15:31And I think you can already see how much they've grown.
15:35They've all got their eyes open.
15:37Their head seems to be coming up more to be begging for food.
15:41And I say parents are doing a great job.
15:46Looking hot here.
15:47This was today.
15:49And then one comes in with an absolute beak full of food, struggling to find a chick to take it.
15:56I thought it would end up feeding one to each chick.
16:00But in the end, it finds that strong chick at the back and stuffs the whole thing in.
16:06I mean, quite amazing, isn't it?
16:08And the other thing that is amazing is we've got loads of swallow nests.
16:13We've got about 10 to 15.
16:14That's the most we've ever had on Springwatch that we've been able to get cameras to.
16:20And this is where they are.
16:22They're in the courtyard.
16:24And this is where we've got lots of barns.
16:26Obviously, that's ideal for swallows.
16:27That's what they need for their nesting places.
16:30They need barns.
16:31And it's an absolute delight when you go out into this courtyard, which is actually in the centre of our
16:36production village, and you watch them.
16:39Now, as you know, when you watch swallows, normally they are so fast.
16:42They flit around everywhere.
16:44And that's what you see when you go out with your binoculars.
16:47We've slowed it down so that you can see just what incredible flyers they are.
16:54And then they're using their precision flying to go through the doors and the windows to go into the barn
17:03and into their nests.
17:06And as I say, this is the most we've had, 15 to 20 pairs.
17:12We've got, I mean, just, it is a delight, isn't it?
17:14It brings joy.
17:15Word again, joy.
17:16Absolutely right.
17:16I mean, swallows are one of my favourite birds.
17:18I long to be a swallow, skimming across the surface of a summer lake, you know, resplendently blue.
17:22But there's another bird that I rather miss, because I used to see them a lot when I was a
17:27kid, and they've sadly disappeared from many of the areas that I visit now.
17:31And that is the house martin.
17:32And we've got a camera on a live house martin's nest, which is also in the courtyard.
17:36They're sharing this space with those swallows, only obviously they're on the outside, under the eaves.
17:40And there you can see the birds in that nest, and stretching away along the eaves a whole series of
17:47other nests behind them.
17:49Of course, we've been keeping a keen eye on these since we've had our cameras put in.
17:53Lots of activity.
17:54Some of them are still building the nest.
17:56What we know is that the older birds tend to turn up first, and they will try to occupy those
18:02nests which have survived the winter, where there's some of that mud fabric left.
18:06Bit of a downside to that, because there might be some parasites left in there.
18:10that have overwintered.
18:12But you see a lot of birds flying up to the nests, and then trying to get in.
18:18It takes about a thousand pellets of mud to make one of those nests.
18:24This one's largely complete, as you can see.
18:26And this is the pair.
18:28One of them is already in the nest.
18:30And here, look, this other little bird, with its characteristic white lump, squeezes in.
18:35Now, brace yourselves, because it's too early in the series to use the C word.
18:39But frankly, Mick, over to you.
18:42Are you really saying that that's cute?
18:44Oh, come on.
18:45They are absolutely delightful.
18:46I know, they like big eyes, that blue crown.
18:49Oh, and that is a stunning shot of it peeking out of its nest.
18:54I mean, that is absolutely lovely.
18:57Hey, they might look cute, but they can be a little bit rumbunctious, to be quite honest with you.
19:01I mentioned that they like to get into those nests as quickly as possible, and then they will fight over
19:06them.
19:07Now, watch this.
19:08This is the nest that we've been watching.
19:10We know there's a pair there.
19:11One comes in with some nesting material, and then another bird strikes it and knocks it off of the nest.
19:17What's it trying to do?
19:18Is it trying to claim that nest space?
19:19Is it trying to steal that nesting material?
19:21We're not sure about that, but what we are sure about is that it doesn't give up, because then it's
19:26hanging on the back of our little house martin there, trying to get in.
19:32Now, this could be a younger bird trying to dislodge one of the older birds that's got in early in
19:37the season and has already completed its nest.
19:39But look, in the end, despite the fact that it's hanging on to its wing in a very, I don't
19:44know, undignified manner.
19:45There's no way to behave when you're as good looking as a house martin, is it really?
19:49It's ruining the image.
19:51That's what you call argy-bargy.
19:53And then he gets turfed out.
19:56Thank goodness for that.
19:57Brilliant birds.
19:58Absolutely brilliant.
19:59And there are so many of them.
20:00As I say, I went into that courtyard with my binoculars after lunch, and there was so much activity.
20:05House martin swallows and one starling nest.
20:09And this is it.
20:11I mean, the starling nest is crammed between those bricks.
20:14It's squeezed in there.
20:16I mean, that is a tight squeeze.
20:19And if we go into the interior of the nest, you can see that there's a starling in there.
20:26And there are five eggs.
20:28I mean, look at it.
20:29It really is squeezed in.
20:31You can see those five eggs.
20:32You've got a glimpse of them there.
20:33I love the colour of starlings' eggs.
20:36Look at that.
20:37It's that beautiful blue colour.
20:39But I tell you what, Chris, when those hatch, that is going to be a squash and a squeeze, isn't
20:44it?
20:44And it's going to be really hot in there.
20:46So delightful when you're watching these starlings in the sunshine that we've had today.
20:50It makes you really appreciate their markings.
20:53I think many people take starlings for granted.
20:56And yet, when you see them in the light and you see that iridescent, they are absolutely stunning.
21:02Yeah, that petrol wash of green and blue and purple is sensational.
21:07So, look, we've got quite a lot of birds in this courtyard.
21:09You say 15 pairs of swallows, probably a few extras.
21:12So there's 40 swallows.
21:13It's about 20 house martin there.
21:15So it's another 40 plus the extras.
21:16We're talking about 60, 70 plus the starlings' birds all hanging around all day.
21:21It's bound to be a predator magnet.
21:23And already we've seen a little spower hawk coming in, not during the day, interestingly, but during the evening.
21:30And here it is, perched on the roof, eyeing those swallows, martins and starlings.
21:37And we'll be keeping a keen eye on that spower hawk to see if it manages to get a meal.
21:41Well, from this beautiful light at this beautiful estate in Northern Ireland,
21:46we're off to West Sussex to another stunning estate with Yolo.
21:50Here's the Neck Estate.
21:58Yes, indeed.
21:59Welcome back to the Neck Estate, squeezed between the M25 and Brighton.
22:04And do you know what?
22:05As I get older, I'm building up a bucket list.
22:07And one of those was to visit the Neck Estate.
22:10I'd never been here until now.
22:13And it doesn't disappoint.
22:15So why have we based ourselves here for the first week?
22:19Well, rather than tell you, I'll show you.
22:20Neck is three and a half thousand acres of rewilding paradise.
22:26And that's driven by the owners, Sir Charles Buddle and Isabella Tree.
22:30Sir Charles inherited the estate from his grandfather, found he wasn't conducive to modern agriculture.
22:36So they're rewilding it, bringing in the troops, the cattle to graze as the Orochs would have done.
22:42Also the pigs, the Tamworths who turn the soil as the wild boar would have done way back.
22:48And of course, what that means is that you get a fantastic variety of habitats, woodlands, hedges, scrub, meadows.
22:56That attracts a myriad of wildlife here.
23:00And they've also brought in the real natural water engineer, the beavers.
23:07They're creating wetlands.
23:08And those wetlands are packed with different wildlife, all kinds of invertebrates in there.
23:14The rare purple emperor is actually doing very well here.
23:18All kinds of rare birds here as well.
23:21You've got nightingales here.
23:23You've got turtle doves here.
23:25And I have to tell you, I've never been anywhere else in the whole of the UK where at once
23:30I can hear cuckoos.
23:31I can hear nightingales and turtle doves singing at the same time.
23:36It is paradise.
23:38But there's one star bird that really has stolen the shore here.
23:42And that is the white stork.
23:45Now, never did I think that I would see white storks in the wild in the UK.
23:49It is a stunning bird.
23:51Long-legged, black and white plumage.
23:55Long-legged, long-billed bird.
23:57Now, the focus of a conservation project here.
24:01They are using rehabilitated birds from Poland and trying to establish a breeding population.
24:08There's some debate as to whether they were originally native birds.
24:12But we know that they nested on Edinburgh Cathedral in 1416.
24:19And so far, it has been very successful.
24:23It's been hugely successful, in fact.
24:26And if you come over here with me, over my shoulder, you can see one of 20 nests on the
24:33estate here.
24:34And we have our wildlife camera person, long-lens camera person.
24:39Come with me over here.
24:40I'll introduce you to Steve Phillips over here.
24:44Steve has got his lens focused on that nest.
24:46Steve, I think you're seeing two adults, are you?
24:50Two adults.
24:51Yes, it looks like one, but the other one's hiding behind it.
24:53It is there.
24:54And two chicks.
24:55Just the tops of the heads of two chicks.
24:59Nepestate have also got a camera on that nest.
25:03It's been there since early in the season.
25:05So let's catch up with what's happened so far.
25:10Now, they caught the birds visiting the nest, building it.
25:14Bit of courtship there.
25:15Bit of bill clattering, displaying to each other.
25:19Bit of mating as well.
25:21They would have mated several times.
25:23And then the female would have laid eggs.
25:26She actually laid four eggs, incubated those for just over a month.
25:31All four hatched.
25:32And fortunately, two of the youngsters didn't make it.
25:37But the other two have been fed regularly and are doing really, really well.
25:48Isn't that fantastic seeing those birds there feeding?
25:55Now, these birds, they really are truly amazing birds.
26:00Now, do you know what?
26:02I'm so excited.
26:03I've lost my sense of place here.
26:06Let's go live.
26:07Let's go live to our nest camera now.
26:11Let's see what's happening now.
26:12There we are.
26:13Yeah, it's the evening.
26:14It's the evening light.
26:15They're sort of relaxing a little bit.
26:19It has been a very hot day.
26:20The adults have been protecting the young from that hot sun.
26:23They've even been bringing water to that nest.
26:26But they look as if they're just about to settle down for the evening.
26:29Isn't that lovely?
26:30Isn't that beautiful evening light there?
26:34And we will be coming back to that nest throughout the rest of this week too.
26:39Now, when I was a little lad, when I was in primary school, one of the joys was when one
26:44of the teachers would bring in frog spawn in an aquarium every spring.
26:48We would be glued to that aquarium, watching the change from egg to tadpole to froglet.
26:57Metamorphosis, I learnt is the name for that process.
26:59The longest word I've ever learnt.
27:02Now, when you take that process down to the macroscopic level, it opens up a whole new world of wonder.
27:22It's a tale as old as time.
27:27Under the cover of darkness, frog meets frog.
27:39Females are not short of attention, and males vie to be the one allowed to hold her close in an
27:45embrace called amplexus, which can last for days.
28:00This male has been chosen, and he's in just the right place to fertilise her eggs as soon as she
28:06releases them.
28:10And it's no mean feat, as she can produce around 3,000 eggs.
28:18Once in the water, they swell to around one centimetre in diameter, and they clump together to form rafts of
28:26frog spawn.
28:31The parents' work is done, and they go their separate ways.
28:37But their batch of glistening orbs are just beginning their journey, wrapped up in a protective jelly.
28:52Within hours, the building blocks of life are starting to form within the fertilised cell.
29:00It divides rapidly in a process known as cleavage.
29:06For a matter of hours, it continues like this.
29:12Until it's transitioned into a hollow ball of thousands of cells, called a blastula.
29:27Spring sunshine warms the water and heralds the next stage.
29:35The cells now rearrange themselves into three layers, and part of the outermost layer folds inwards, forming a neural tube.
29:45This tube will become the brain and the spinal cord.
29:56Next, it elongates.
29:59The head begins to form.
30:03Along with the beginnings of a tail.
30:13And now arrives another landmark moment.
30:20Newly formed muscles connect to the developing nervous system.
30:39In as little as a week, an embryonic tadpole has come into being.
30:45But whilst it's growing fast, the tadpole has not yet taken its first breath.
30:51You see, at this moment, it has no lungs.
30:55And its mouth and nostrils are tightly sealed.
30:58So for now, it's breathing solely through its skin.
31:02But for progress, it needs better tools than that.
31:09The beginnings of gills are budding from the back of the tadpole's head.
31:17They branch out into tree-like structures, which draw oxygen from the water and deliver it through blood vessels to
31:26power the tail muscle.
31:30And the boost this oxygen brings is just what the tadpole needs right now.
31:39Because at three weeks old, it's ready to hatch.
31:46It pushes its head against the jelly wall, thrashing and wriggling furiously.
31:53Finally, it's a monumental effort for an embryonic animal.
32:09Finally, it punctures the membrane.
32:12And with a flick of its tail, it's free.
32:17It will now sink to the depths of the pond for a well-earned rest.
32:21But it won't be long before it needs to feed.
32:25And the sun has laid on a feast.
32:35Vegetation blooms.
32:37And a hungry tadpole can replenish its energy to fuel the next stage of growth.
32:44Yes, legs are on the way.
32:50Whilst its early genesis might have been a wonder, it will take a miracle for it to survive to adulthood.
32:57Of the clutch of 3,000 eggs a single frog can produce in a season, only four or five will
33:04make it to adulthood.
33:05But those lucky few that do will return to the very same pond where they were conceived, to mate themselves
33:16and start the whole process over again.
33:28I love fox spawn.
33:30I absolutely love it.
33:31When it's first laid and it's all fresh, it's got no algae on it and then you put it in
33:34that little jam jar and it's got potential.
33:38It's the potential.
33:39They just look like little beads.
33:40And then within a couple of weeks, there are tadpoles tickling the palm of your hand.
33:44It makes you act like a kid immediately.
33:46But I think fox spawn inspires so many children to then go further into having a passion for wildlife.
33:52It's like caterpillars turning into butterflies.
33:55It's just mind-blowing, isn't it?
33:57Because it is almost a miracle.
33:58You see it happening in front of you, you understand how it works.
34:00Someone tells you, but nevertheless, when you see it for the first time as a child, you never forget it.
34:05Anyway, we've come down to the reed boats.
34:07I have to say, Chris, it's a little bit romantic here, isn't it?
34:09I mean, with beautiful light, you've got swans floating behind us, Rapunzel's castle in the background.
34:15She's going to throw down her hair and the prince is going to climb up.
34:18Am I getting a bit carried away?
34:19Possibly, yes.
34:20Anyway, so we've come down to the waterway and on the other side is a very important woodland.
34:25And the reason that this woodland is important is because there's not much ancient woodland in Ireland.
34:31But crumb has a good percentage of it and a lot of it is oak trees.
34:36And we know that oak trees provide a habitat for so much wildlife, not only above but in and below
34:43as well.
34:44And so in that woodland on the other side of the loch there, our camera crew knew that there was
34:50a badger set.
34:51And so they decided to put up some trail cameras to see just how active it was.
34:56And this is what they saw.
34:59They saw an incredibly, I'm going to use the C word, cute badger cub.
35:04This is this year's badger cub.
35:06And our crew actually think that this could be the youngest ever seen on spring watch on our live cameras.
35:12There's a thing, eh?
35:13Look at that.
35:13But not only did we see this gorgeous little badger cub, we saw a deer coming along.
35:18And the cub's curious.
35:20And look at them both.
35:21I mean, remember this is in the dark and they completely spook each other.
35:24I think that's very sweet.
35:25It's a bit Bambi, actually.
35:26But I like Bambi.
35:28It was a little bit Bambi, wasn't it?
35:29Let's go live to the badger set now.
35:33It's in those woods across the other side of the lake.
35:36And there it is.
35:36Now, I've got to tell you, should have been here yesterday.
35:39Because last night at this time, the badgers were out.
35:42Of course they were.
35:43And we've been monitoring them and picking up quite a lot of activity at the set.
35:48We know that there's that young from this year, at least one cub.
35:51And we also know, obviously, there were adults and some of last year's cubs.
35:55We've not really got to know them all yet.
35:58But they have been emerging in daylight, which is really nice.
36:01So we can see them in full colour.
36:04And if you're keen on badger watching, I would advocate this is possibly the best time of year to go.
36:09The bracken isn't fully up in many places, so you get to see them.
36:13And the midges haven't yet reached their peak of annoyance.
36:17So if you are thinking of going to a local set, this might be good.
36:20And this is what you might have as a treat.
36:23And the whole group of badgers.
36:24And you can see those are youngsters there.
36:26They're still quite fluffy.
36:28They haven't got any tears or scarring on their faces.
36:31This, on the other hand, is an adult that's moving out of the set.
36:35And, of course, we'll be monitoring that very closely.
36:38And we hope to get to know our badgers a bit better.
36:40It's very magical, that setting, isn't it?
36:43Yeah, it is.
36:43There's something really beautiful about it.
36:46And as Chris said, we'll be keeping our eyes peeled on that badger set.
36:49OK, let's go to Nepp and see the storks and Yolo in his shorts.
36:54Bit of a rhyme there.
36:55Did you like that, Yolo?
36:56Lovely.
36:58Yes, indeed.
36:59Yes, yes, yeah.
37:00Yeah, you're a poet and you don't even know it.
37:02Yes, thank you very much.
37:02Yes, welcome back to the Nepp estate, to the land of the white stork.
37:07And where our long lens operator, Steve Phillips, has got his camera trained on a white stork nest in this
37:13big oak tree behind me.
37:14Steve, oh, there's been a little bit of movement.
37:16Look, both chicks are now standing up.
37:19It's nowhere near as hot as it was earlier in the day.
37:23So they've cooled down quite a bit, probably having one last stretch before they settle down for the night.
37:29But at this distance, it's really difficult to get a gauge of the sheer size of these birds.
37:36So let me show you, let me introduce you to a friend of mine.
37:39This is Jamie.
37:41Jamie, now, Jamie, I have to emphasise, died of natural causes and is now used as an education facility here
37:49at Nepp.
37:49They take it round schools.
37:51But it gives you an idea of the size of the bird.
37:54The long legs, the black and white plumage.
37:57Actually, Jamie, for an adult stork, it's quite small.
38:00They will grow to be over a metre tall.
38:03And their wingspan is huge, over one and a half metres.
38:09Huge, huge birds.
38:10And do note this bill.
38:12Now, the bill on an adult stork can grow to be 19 centimetres long.
38:18And ironically, inside there is a tongue that's only two and a half centimetres.
38:23Now, what do they use that bill for?
38:26Well, one use is hunting.
38:29We've seen storks walking through the meadows here,
38:32picking up all kinds of invertebrates,
38:36especially when the earth is moist, earthworms.
38:39A high percentage of their diet here is made up of earthworms.
38:44They'll pick up crickets, dragonflies.
38:48But also, because it's been so dry,
38:51they've taken to the wetland areas where now they are feeding on dragonfly larvae,
38:56frogs, newts, all kinds of amphibians.
39:00They're opportunists, really.
39:01They'll eat anything small enough for them to swallow.
39:05But that's not all they use their beak for.
39:08Have a listen to this.
39:12This is called bill clattering.
39:18Isn't that superb?
39:19They're non-vocal birds.
39:21They don't have a syrinx, which is a bird's voice box,
39:24but they do have a pouch in their throat to amplify that sound.
39:29And the clattering will vary depending on the occasion.
39:33If they're greeting each other like that pair there, it's quite soft.
39:37But if a strange stork flies over the nest, it's much, much louder.
39:42And in German medieval times, they used to call them clappenstorks.
39:47Isn't that fantastic?
39:47And in the stork world, size really does matter because the longer the bill, the more efficient they are at
39:55clattering.
39:56But that's what all the bill is used for.
39:58Let's go down here.
39:59They also gather nesting material.
40:02This is typical stork nesting material.
40:04All kinds of branches.
40:06They lift up clods of earth, a bit of moss, a bit of wool here and there.
40:11And some of these stork nests that they build are absolutely huge.
40:16The biggest one here on the estate is reckoned to be about 1.8 metres tall and weighs almost a
40:24tonne.
40:25But that's nothing compared to some of the nests over in Poland.
40:29Take a look at this one.
40:30This particular nest is estimated to be about 2 metres tall, almost 2 metres wide.
40:40And to weigh a tonne and a half.
40:43And from the air, you can see all four birds sitting on it.
40:47There's barely a shallow cup in there, hence the weight.
40:51Can you imagine looking out of your front door, looking up at your chimney and seeing that nest?
40:57But luckily on the continent, people think it's really lucky to have storks nesting on their homes.
41:04Let's have another look at the live camera they've got here on the Neck Estate.
41:09See what's going on.
41:11Have one last look before nightfall.
41:13Yeah, the two chicks are finally just about starting to settle down now.
41:19But isn't that fantastic?
41:20And as I said, we'll be following that camera throughout this week.
41:24Now I want to introduce you to a Belfast man.
41:28His name is Aaron Kelly.
41:31He's Belfast through and through.
41:33He loves the hills around his native city.
41:37It's had a major influence on him.
41:40And now he spends an inordinate amount of his time exploring the wildlife that he can find there.
41:58It's all I think about.
41:59Nature's all I think about.
42:00You ask any of my friends.
42:02It's all I do.
42:03It consumes me in a way.
42:05This mountain in nature is all I think about.
42:09Where I grew up in West Belfast, I grew up in Baltimore from West Belfast.
42:14So the mountain has always been in the background of like all my memories as a child.
42:20For me, the mountain is Belfast like, you know.
42:26Up here on the hills, it's so big that it has everything.
42:29There's pine marns, there's buzzards, there's barn outs, there's short-eared outs, there's long-eared outs, there's hen hires.
42:40I've always wanted to work in nature, ever since I was a kid.
42:43I just didn't know how to do it, you know.
42:44I was just doing normal jobs.
42:46And it was really just during COVID that I had the free time to go and just chase my passion
42:50of nature.
42:51I kind of just made my own experience up in the mountain.
42:55After I found the pen martin, everything snowballed.
42:57I was walking and I'd seen the scat there for pen martin.
43:00I was like, is Belfast having pen martins?
43:02No way.
43:03And then one day I had the camera out and I'd seen it.
43:05And it was just on Christmas Eve.
43:07And it was unbelievable.
43:08And I was just going mad though.
43:10I was shouting everywhere, got it, got it, happy days, you know.
43:14I was the first person to find them.
43:16At the time, they didn't exist on the hills.
43:19I feel like the pen martin made people take me serious.
43:22Because I don't have a degree.
43:24I think before, when you're coming where I'm from and you sound like me, you know, you can't have a
43:29really thick city accent.
43:31And you're not your typical nature person.
43:33If I go up and I'm saying there's pen martins, you're just going to go, look at that rocket.
43:36You know what I mean?
43:36You're not going to believe him, you know.
43:39So for me, when I finally did find it, it gave me a bit of validation and people believed me.
43:43It allowed me to kind of get a job and to get into conservation.
43:49For as long as I can remember, there's been campaigns to save us mountain, you know.
43:53There's quarrying and there's housing development and there's all sorts of threats, you know.
43:58And I just feel like I have a sense of duty to kind of look after it.
44:03The rewilding project up here on the mountain kind of started organically, really, you know.
44:07It's all about kind of restoring the mountain and enhancing it in loads of ways, too.
44:11We're tree planting or we're letting natural regeneration take place.
44:14I see what it could be.
44:16And I have an idea in my head.
44:18I have a big picture in my head.
44:19I can see it as clear as day.
44:20So I know it's going to happen someday, you know.
44:31So right here is one of the ponds that we dug.
44:35In nature, water is life.
44:37As soon as the water source is there, everything just started coming.
44:40It didn't take long at all.
44:41We've brought noots, dragonflies, damselflies, frogs in this area.
44:45The bats at night, they're able to skim across and feed.
44:48Once you put a water source somewhere, the whole food chain can benefit from it.
44:53You know, so, like, water is life.
45:05So right now, we're in one of the most beautiful woodlands in the Belfast Hills.
45:09The good thing about the mountain and the hills are that they're scattered with loads of cracking woodlands.
45:13Some of the best, in my opinion, some of the best in Ireland, but I may be slightly biased.
45:23To me, this woodland is what Ireland should be like.
45:26One of the really special things about it is it'll be classed as a temperate rainforest.
45:31So, in Ireland, we have what's known for temperate rainforests.
45:34We don't have much of them, but we're lucky to have a lot of them on the Belfast Hills.
45:38So, what you get with that is loads of ferns, loads of mosses, loads of lichens.
45:43You'll get epiphytes, so you'll get plants growing on top of trees.
45:48And to see something like this, it's so special.
45:51When I'm in somewhere like this, I just feel completely at peace.
45:54I feel like this is where I belong.
45:59This mountain put me in the right direction.
46:01It literally held my hand and brought me here.
46:06So, I need to give back this mountain, you know.
46:08I need to look after it for, it's the least I could do for it, you know.
46:11Sometimes I prepare for, like, I can hear it breathe, and I want to keep it breathing.
46:15I want to look after it, and my way of looking after it is to make it wilder, and make
46:20it
46:20better, and bring more animals to it, and bring more nature.
46:23And, as I said, that's the least I could be doing for it.
46:25I owe it everything, literally.
46:43Aaron, you are doing a great job.
46:45You don't need to go to university or have a degree to have a love of wildlife and be
46:50a wildlife protector.
46:51You just need to have passion, and he certainly has that in abundance.
46:55Plenty of passion, making a difference, top bloke.
46:58Now, our wildlife cameramen have been out and about here at Crumb, and they found this.
47:02Now, for those of you in England, Scotland, and Wales, this won't be terribly exciting.
47:08Great spotted woodpeckers are relatively common birds.
47:10In fact, they've increased by 378% since the late 1960s.
47:15But, in fact, they weren't found nesting in Ireland until 2006, when they nested in Northern
47:21Ireland, and 2009, when the first pair nested in the South.
47:26The thing is, had they been here before?
47:28Well, there is some evidence to suggest that they were here, because Bronze Age cave remains
47:33showed some greater spotted woodpecker bones.
47:36Why did they disappear?
47:38Well, 10,000 years ago, Ireland was 80% forest.
47:44By 1925, there was only 1% of the forest left.
47:49So it's highly likely that not only great spotted woodpeckers, but lesser spot and greenwood peckers
47:54all disappeared at that point.
47:57Now, I'm pleased to say it's back up to 11.6% here, so reforestation is taking place.
48:03But those woodpeckers are a real treat to see here.
48:05We think there could be as many as 100 pairs now.
48:07No one's done a count yet.
48:08That's an astonishing statistic, isn't it?
48:101% of the forest was left.
48:13Good grief.
48:13But, you know, we're learning so much about woodpeckers.
48:16We think we know everything, particularly about what they're famous for, which is pecking.
48:21And you know when you see a wood, usually you hear a woodpecker before you see it.
48:27And this one is ferociously pecking.
48:30It's actually not pecking at the tree trunk.
48:32It's pecking at a pine cone, which is wedged into the tree trunk.
48:36And it's doing it with incredible force.
48:39So how does a bird that weighs just 80 grams peck with such an incredible force like that?
48:46Well, not just...
48:47I mean, pecking the pine cone, it's sort of stabbing away there.
48:50But when they're pecking the tree, they can peck up to 25 times a second,
48:55particularly, again, when they're drumming.
48:56Come on to that in a minute.
48:57And they do so with 30, 40 times their own body weight.
49:02So if they're 80 grams, that means that they're pecking with a force of nearly 2 kilograms.
49:07That's a big punch from a little bird, isn't it?
49:10How do they do it?
49:12Well, scientists working at Brown University in the United States
49:15put muscle sensors onto downy woodpeckers
49:18and filmed them using high-speed photography to find out how it worked.
49:23And this is what they've come up with.
49:24Here's the woodpecker.
49:25In this case, it's a great spot.
49:27We think it transfers between the species.
49:29The first thing it does is it uses the muscles in its chest
49:32to pull its head back into a position like that.
49:35And then what's new is we know that it uses its hips
49:39to push its body away from the tree.
49:42It then puts its tail down.
49:46Now, you know that the tail of a woodpecker
49:47is made of some very, very stiff feathers.
49:51They've got a stiff ratchus, or quill,
49:53and that means that they can press against the tree to brace the bird.
49:56So having got the head in that position and the body away,
50:00its hips are primed,
50:02and then the woodpecker starts pecking the tree.
50:06And what's interesting is that when it makes impact here,
50:09it further braces the muscles in its neck
50:12to increase the power that's transferred into the trunk.
50:16But what they also discovered was
50:19it can vary the amount of force that it strikes that trunk with,
50:23not through using the muscles in its neck,
50:25but through using its hips.
50:28So it turns out that when a woodpecker is pecking or drumming,
50:32it's the hips that are generating the majority of the force.
50:35But, you know, that doesn't actually surprise me
50:37because I do yoga and pilates,
50:39and a lot of your strength comes from your core.
50:42And if you've got a strong core,
50:44then you can pick up heavy weights using that core.
50:47Have you got a strong core?
50:47I have, actually.
50:49You know, I trained as a dancer,
50:50and when I used to be, you know, doing my core work there,
50:53they used to come and punch you in the stomach
50:54to make sure that you were engaged in your core.
50:57And I'll tell you what, it didn't hurt,
50:58so I was clearly engaged.
50:59Engaged in your core.
51:01I was engaged in my core.
51:03Let's have a look at the woodpecker drumming again.
51:06It's actually the males and the females that do it.
51:09And they do it so that they can claim their territory,
51:12so they can attract a mate as well.
51:14And I say they do it with such incredible force,
51:16especially when they're excavating nest cavities.
51:20And as Chris said, they do it how many times?
51:2325 times a second.
51:2425 times a second.
51:26Yeah, but it gets...
51:27So fast you can't even see it sometimes.
51:28Indeed, indeed.
51:29But listen, one of the scientists, Dr Nick Antonson,
51:32has sent us this.
51:33This is a recording.
51:34Wow.
51:35It's a transcription of pressure into sound
51:38so that we can hear it of the woodpecker
51:41whilst it's drumming.
51:42Have a listen to this.
51:45Oh, I love that.
51:48Yeah.
51:49That's what I like about science.
51:51You know, that's the sound that has been, you know,
51:54generated by the pressure inside a body of a woodpecker
51:57whilst it's drumming.
51:58That's why I love science.
51:59Anyway, look, the point is
52:00that what you're hearing there
52:02is as the woodpecker is withdrawing its beak away,
52:05it is basically taking a tiny breath into its body
52:10in the fraction of a millisecond.
52:12And then when the beak makes contact with the wood,
52:14it expels that.
52:16It exhales a tiny amount of air,
52:18again, in a millisecond.
52:20Let's listen.
52:23Yeah.
52:24Yeah.
52:24And this is all about the woodpecker's body working as one,
52:29the hips, the muscles in the neck,
52:31and, of course, all of its breathing apparatus
52:33to maximise its capacity to hit this wood really hard,
52:38repeatedly and very rapidly.
52:39But again, you know, that takes me back to my yoga
52:42because breathing is so important in yoga.
52:45And there's a particular breath that you do called a lion's breath
52:48where you breathe in and then you expel your breath,
52:52you know, in a really forceful way.
52:53And you go...
52:55Like that, sticking your tongue out as well,
52:57raising your eyes to the sky.
52:59Like that.
53:00And it's supposed to stimulate your chakras.
53:02Are you stimulating your chakras, love?
53:04No, I'm trying to sort of wish my way out of here, frankly.
53:06That's what I'm doing.
53:07And it's basically getting rid of all of the stress.
53:10So, come on, sit down on the wall, Chris.
53:12Because you, of all people, could do with a little bit of yoga.
53:15Isn't it more like tennis players
53:16when they whack the ball really hard and they grunt?
53:19Yeah, you could say it's like that as well
53:21or you could say it's like the lion's breath.
53:22But we are going into our first mindfulness moment.
53:26So, let's take a deep breath in.
53:28For once.
53:29So, we can de-stress as we watch
53:31snake's head fritillaries in the sunrise.
53:35Here we go.
53:38Ah!
54:17Oh, no.
54:47So, let's go.
55:15Listen, I'm not sure about the yoga, right,
55:17but the snake's head fritillaries were fantastic.
55:19So beautiful.
55:21By the end of three weeks, I'm going to get you to do a downward dog.
55:23Anyway, around Crumb, there are some amazing places for birds to nest.
55:29And this one is the most stunning, I reckon,
55:31because it is a really picturesque boathouse.
55:36And in the boathouse, guess what is nesting?
55:40Jackdaws.
55:40I mean, look at this stunning jackdaw.
55:44That is the boathouse.
55:46And as I say, who would live in a place like this?
55:48If I was a bird, I would definitely nest in that boathouse.
55:52If I was a bloke with a boat, I'd put it in that house.
55:55There they are live.
55:56We've got the jackdaw chicks just there.
55:58They're two weeks old.
55:58There are four chicks.
56:00And let's take a look at them,
56:02because, as I say, we're very excited to have jackdaws.
56:05We've only had, I reckon, about three jackdaw nests
56:07on Springwatch in the past.
56:09It's not a bird that we feature regularly,
56:11but it is an absolutely gorgeous corvid,
56:14smallest of the corvids.
56:16And I love that grey net head that it's got,
56:20those feathers on the head and that eye.
56:22And look at the chicks.
56:23Both of the parents are coming in and feeding the chicks.
56:26They're doing pretty well.
56:29And we're going to be keeping our eyes on that live nest,
56:32because, as I say, it's a real treat
56:34to have this jackdaw nest.
56:37It's pretty noisy, though, aren't they?
56:38Pretty noisy.
56:39But have a listen to this,
56:40because what you hear here is the jackdaw coming into the nest
56:44and the adult makes a barking sound.
56:48And then the youngsters respond.
56:51And what that sound is that's being produced by the jackdaw
56:54is a means of asking them to get ready to beg
56:57so it can increase the efficiency of the food transfer.
57:00And what we see through studies is that the young birds,
57:03initially, when they hatch, will respond to pretty much any sound.
57:06Then they'll respond to a sound of another jackdaw.
57:09But the older they get,
57:11they get tuned in to their particular adult
57:14that's coming to feed them.
57:16So they learn the sound of their, you know,
57:18male or female that's feeding them,
57:20and they'll respond to that when it comes to begging.
57:22It's great.
57:23We've got lots of good nests already, haven't we?
57:25We've got a smuggers' board of birds on the nest,
57:29and we'll be keeping an eye on them over the next three weeks.
57:31That brings us to the end of our first show.
57:34Obviously, we've got lots coming up tomorrow, including this.
57:39We reveal the hidden life of one of our most elusive reptiles,
57:44slow worms.
57:46We'll also be meeting Dominique Palmer.
57:48She's a climber advocate who finds solace in nature
57:52to help with her mental health.
57:57And we'll be shining a light on some curious caterpillars
58:01under the cover of darkness.
58:04So, as I say, keep your eyes on our live cameras.
58:07You can see them on the iPlayer
58:09from 10 in the morning to 10 in the evening.
58:12You never know what you might see.
58:14You've got the jackdaws, the robins, the swallows.
58:16There's so many nests,
58:18and we will be catching up with them tomorrow at 8 o'clock,
58:22and hopefully it's going to be another beautiful day.
58:26If it is, get out, enjoy it.
58:28We'll see you at 8 o'clock.
58:29Goodbye.
58:30Bye.
59:05Why you'll be doing this?
59:07No.
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